Appeal against Belgium’s Halal, Kosher Ban Rejected
A group of Muslims and Jews lost the court battle in Belgium over animal rights laws that prevents them from keeping halal and kosher.
The ban on ritual slaughter without stunning an animal first was opposed by representatives of Belgium's Muslim, Moroccan and Turkish communities, as well as Muslim and Jewish individuals.
They argued the laws made it "hard, if not impossible, for Jewish and Muslim believers to slaughter animals in accordance with the precepts of their religion".
The European Court of Human Rights accepted the two laws, passed separately in Belgium's Dutch and French-speaking regions, interfered with religious freedom.
However, judges said the intrusion was "proportionate to the aim pursued, namely the protection of animal welfare".
European law allows religious freedom to be curbed in the name of "public morals" – and this extends to animal welfare, the court ruled.
A seven-judge panel also rejected a claim by the applicants it would be "difficult, if not impossible, to obtain meat in conformity with their religious belief".
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The government said people could still buy their preferred meat from abroad, or from Brussels, which has not passed such a strict law.
The Muslim and Jewish groups "had not shown that access to such meat had become more difficult", the court said. A claim that the laws were discriminatory also failed.
Judges at the EU's Court of Justice, a separate tribunal, had previously sided with the Belgian authorities in a ruling in 2020.
Source: thenationalnews.com
